Spiritual First Aid: Spiritual and Emotional Care in CrisisSample

Livelihood Needs

When people walk through dark valleys in life, God is with them (Ps. 23:4). And God uses us to be the hands and feet of Christ to those in crisis. In the book of Matthew, we see Jesus share the importance of meeting the tangible needs of those around us (Matt. 25:35-40). A loss of a job can cause someone to fall into a financial crisis. Perhaps their housing falls through or their health is compromised. All of these things can cause a loss of livelihood. As followers of Christ, we’re called to “share with the Lord’s people who are in need” and to “practice hospitality” (Romans 12:12-13). 

Help with humility:

Pitch in wherever you are needed. Ask them what they need and then do it. Humility means recognizing when there is a need, responding to the need, and understanding that no form of helping is beneath you. What may seem to you like the smallest of jobs might make the biggest difference to someone else. 

Engage in practical presence:

Try to balance questions with active listening, paraphrases, and reflections of feeling and meaning. The goal is connection and understanding of needs to guide how you intervene. Your purpose is to listen and offer support where you can. 

Tips for practicing presence:

• Pause, take a deep breath and focus on being the best listener that you can.
• Commit to making yourself spiritually and emotionally available in the moment.
• Show genuine curiosity about what the other person is saying. 
• While they are communicating, do not worry about what you will say or do next.

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The BLESS Method is Spiritual First Aid’s assessment and intervention framework for humbly helping and providing practical presence. BLESS represents the first letter of each of the five core needs (Belonging, Livelihood, Emotional, Safety, and Spiritual needs) that Spiritual First Aid was designed to assist.